What are hydronium and hydroxide ions?

1 Answer
anor277
Nov 20, 2015

Hydroxide #=# #OH^-#; hydronium ion is represented as #H^+# or #H_3O^+#.

Explanation:

The hydronium ion and the hydroxide are respectively the characteristic cation, and anion of water. The constitution of the hydronium ion is debatable. As far as anyone knows, it is 3 or 4 water molecules with an extra proton tacked on, say #(O_3H_7)^+#. It is simpler to represent the hydronium ion as #H_3O^+# or even as #H^+#. Can you quote the equilibrium reaction that governs formation of these ions in water?

Related questions
See all questions in Acids and Bases
Impact of this question
15561 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License